I am sure by now that you have heard about
April Rhodes amazing new
fabric line for
Art Galley Fabrics called Arizona Fabrics which is soon to be released. I love the colors, the modern shapes, and the nod to the west. When she asked me to participate in her blog tour I was more than eager to comply. In fact I had been wanting to make my daughter a new backpack for awhile as she is starting preK this fall, and I knew that
April's new fabrics would be perfect. She loves the pink and flowers and I love that the fabric doesn't feel juvenile - the perfect balance.
For the pattern I used
Made By Rae's Toddler backpack pattern once
again (see my first version
here). This time I enlarged it about 1inch all around. This made it the perfect size to fit letter sized folders, but still small enough to not topple her over. I also added a lining, inside pocket, and outside pocket. I love this pattern because it is simple, and easy to customize.
To make the backpack more stiff I fuzed it to some heavyweight stabilizer. This is my only regret. It doesn't want to stay fused which is causing some slight bubbling on the fabric. If I did it again I would use sew-in stabilizer instead.
The fabric was wonderful to work with. It was my first time to use
ArtGallery fabrics and I am officially impressed. The quilting cotton is obviously of a good quality as it has a soft feel and washes up beautifully. I am excited to try them again.
There are a bunch of other blogs participating in the blog tour. Here is a list of them all if you would like to check them out.
As mentioned before I have a
fat quarter bundle to GIVEAWAY to one lucky reader. All you need to do is comment on this post with what you would use the fabric for. Unfortunately it is only open to US readers. The giveaway is open until Thursday night - midnight EST. I will announce the winner on Friday.
